While the Illini walked away with the win, it still looked like Illinois forgot to show up to the beginning of its Elite Eight game against the Iowa Hawkeyes.
By halftime, Iowa held onto a 32-28 lead, and it was clear that something had to change. With the 71-59 victory that the Fighting Illini finished with, it was clear that Illinois head coach Brad Underwood had made those changes.
However, even Underwood admitted that his team came out slow, and the Hawkeyes didn't hesitate to take advantage of it. As Illinois advances to the Final Four, where it will face the dominant UConn Huskies, the same kind of start cannot happen.
"It's not very comfortable to get down 12-2 and watch their best player just absolutely kicking your butt," Underwood said on 104.3 The Score. "They punched us in the mouth, we got bloodied up, and I told our team that."
Illinois is ready for a dog fight vs. the Huskies
Underwood's entirely right, the Illini got sucker punched before they could even think about getting their own gloves up in self-defense over the first part of the Elite Eight matchup.
Of course, as the first half rolled along, Illinois shrank Iowa's lead from 10 points to 4 by halftime, and outscored the Hawkeyes by 16 in the second half. Against a team like UConn, which just proved to the world that it can come back to win ever after trailing by 15 points at halftime, Underwood cannot allow his team to start the game that unprepared.
Illinois coach Brad Underwood admitted Iowa "punched us in the mouth" early in their Elite Eight game, but he liked how his Illini responded as the game went along. pic.twitter.com/y9CAEANk4O
— 104.3 The Score (@thescorechicago) March 30, 2026
Illinois doesn't have a great history against UConn, going 1-4 in the two teams' five meetings, with two of those losses happening since Underwood took over. However, the Fighting Illini cannot let that deter them from going into this game swinging.
As of now, and since the matchup was set, the Illini are favored by the narrowest of margins as just 2.5-point favorites over the Huskies. Starting fast and never looking back will be crucial for Illinois to pull off yet another incredible win and punch its ticket to the National Championship.